L'Ambassade d'Auvergne is a restaurant that I have been visiting for over 30 years. It was included in the original Food Lover's Guide to Paris in 1984, and a recent meal there confirmed that it is still as good as ever. I was happy to find a whole host of new dishes on the menu since my last visit – all as homey, comforting and rewarding as I have come to expect from this welcoming family restaurant. Of course the traditional aligot (cheesy, garlicky potato purée typical of the region) is a long-standing staple of their menu, as is their near-on addictive chocolate mousse, both of which, in my opinion, should be considered some of France's greatest gifts to gastronomy. Not a bad way to brighten up a gray Parisian winter's day!

L'Ambassade d'Auvergne

Returning to the folkoric, always dependable L’Ambassade d’Auvergne is like going to visit a favorite aunt and uncle. You are welcomed with open arms, enjoying a few sips of meaty Domaine Mont-Olivet Châteauneuf-du-Pape as you examine the totally regional menu based on the fierce tradition of the center of France, the Auvergne. Meat is king here, in the name of a delicious duo d’agneau, a warming winter pair of slow and long-cooked braised lamb shoulder and leg, rich, tender, rewarding. There are of course thick, seared slices of rich and fragrant foie gras, served with a welcome sprinkling of sea salt and a smear of intense red fruit jam. We sampled just about everything on the menu, including a favored giant pork sausage, served with a giant crock of cornichons; an excellent assortment of cured pork products (cochonailles), including a “best ever” serving of perfectly seasoned headcheese (fromage de tête), a moist and tender roast partridge (perdreaux) paired with an avalanche of seasoned, chopped and simmered cabbage; In abudance, forever, is the region’s piece de resistance, the thick and creamy aligot, a potato puree laced with the fresh curds used in making Cantal cheese, and garlic (and minced truffles, in season!), a dish no one can possibly turn away. Save room for the smooth and addictive chocolate mousse, served out of giant bowls, and you are forcefully urged to go for seconds, even thirds.

Patricia Wells

Patricia Wells – journalist, author, and cooking teacher – is an American who has lived in Paris since 1980. She is the author of 13 books, including The French Kitchen Cookbook, Simply Truffles, Vegetable Harvest, We've Always Had Paris...and Provence, Bistro Cooking, Simply French, and Trattoria. Her first book, The Food Lover’s Guide to Paris, was a landmark work that "cracked the code" to the Paris food world. (The Food Lovers Guide iPhone app is available from the iTunes store, and an all new version of the print edition is scheduled for March publication.) She is the only woman and only foreigner to serve as restaurant critic of a major French publication, the newsweekly L’Express. From 1980 to 2007 she served as restaurant critic for the International Herald Tribune. Previously, she was a writer and editor for The Washington Post and The New York Times.

She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her contributions to French culture, and received an honorary doctorate from Muhlenberg College in 2013 and another in gastronomic journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2007. Several of her books have received the James Beard and IACP awards, and most of them have been translated into several languages. At certain times of the year, she conducts week-long cooking classes both in her cooking studio in Paris and at her farmhouse in Provence. She is married to Walter Wells, retired executive editor of the International Herald Tribune and now her enthusiastic sous-chef.